Teachings of Ram Dass

How do we deal with the unknown? Ram Dass describes how we can empty our minds to find answers to the mysteries of suffering and death.

How can we keep a compassionate heart? Ram Dass speaks about how we can consciously reach out to others, feeling and understanding our connections to them.

We are connected to everyone and everything in the universe. Ram Dass explains that when we forget these connections, we can be drawn back again and again to remember, and live in awareness.

Do you want to know the truth? Ram Dass shares how we can reach a clear connection with the people in our lives, and live in truth, instead of in reactions and projections about one another.

Ram Dass describes how we can let go of our attachments to our feelings about our individual circumstances. The real state of our being is beyond our limited individual understanding.

Being ripped away from illusion can be painful. Ram Dass relates how we can wake up, individually, and collectively, from the illusion that we are separate beings.

Finding joy in the everyday moments of life is not always easy. Ram Dass shares how examining our minds, supporting others, and opening our hearts to abundance and compassion brings about the safety to love openly.

A mantra is a seed teaching that we can repeat in our daily practice to connect to our purpose. Ram Dass describes the power of mantra practice and the mantras that we choose.

There is a paradox in practicing right effort, Ram Dass explains. When we balance effort and no effort, we reach a state where "things are done without doing".

Can we be impartial in how we view ourselves? Ram Dass explains how looking at our own circumstances without self judgment is like appreciating the individual trees in a forest. The differences in each tree are what build the whole forest we see.

One of the ways we experience the universe is through the symbol of the Mother. Ram Dass describes how figures like Kali, Lakshmi, and Mother Mary help us understand our soul origins and experiences.

Can we give up identifying with the desires that drive our lives? Ram Dass describes the process to "go behind your thoughts" and let go of the suffering that we each find in the course of our lives.

Can we appreciate the universe, and ourselves, perfectly as they are? Ram Dass speaks about how accepting ourselves more leads us to a better understanding of everyone we meet.

Observing the vastness of the sky gives us insight on the depth of our soul connections. Ram Dass describes the meditative practice of sky gazing in the Dzogchen tradition: as you look at the sky, you can observe the freshness of the present moment.